Careers A–Z · Art department
Art director
The art director turns the production designer’s idea into buildable, budgeted, scheduled sets. You run the art department’s delivery.
In the UK the art director is not the designer. The production designer owns the look; you own whether it exists on the day.
The basics
Also known as, and where the grade sits.
| Art director | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Art director. Above: supervising art director and production designer. Below: assistant art director and draughtsperson. |
| Level | Senior, running the department’s delivery under the designer. |
| Reports to | The production designer. |
| Comes after | Assistant art director, draughtsperson, or architecture and design. |
| Leads to | Supervising art director, then production designer. |
The job
What does a art director do?
You take the designer’s concepts and make them real: drawings issued to construction, materials chosen, costs estimated, and a build schedule that fits the shooting schedule.
You run the drawing office, brief construction, scenic art, prop and set dec, resolve the hundred practical questions a set raises, and walk the build constantly to catch problems while they are still cheap.
The unglamorous end: this is a construction management job with a design title. Budgets, drawings, deadlines, and being told a set has to be ready a week sooner than the build allows.
The requirement
What is a art director good at?
Design literacy on top of genuine construction and budget competence.
Drawing
Technical drawings that a carpenter can build from without ringing you.
Costing
Knowing what a set costs before the designer falls in love with it.
Materials
What a finish will look like on camera and how long it takes to dry.
Scheduling
Builds, strikes and turnarounds against the shooting schedule.
Communication
Designer, construction, production and the floor all need different versions.
Kit
Tools of the trade.
| What | The actual items |
|---|---|
| Drawing | AutoCAD or Vectorworks, SketchUp for concept, and printed drawings on the build. |
| Reference | Mood boards, location photographs, historical reference and finish samples. |
| Costing | Build budgets, materials schedules, labour estimates and a contingency line. |
| On the build | Tape measure, torch, scale rule, hard hat and boots. |
| Scheduling | Construction programme, strike dates and the shooting schedule beside them. |
The unit
Who does a art director work with?
| Who | What passes between you |
|---|---|
| Production designer | The look, the intent and where compromise is allowed. |
| Construction manager | Build programme, labour, materials and cost. |
| Set decorator and props | Dressing, practicals and continuity of the set. |
| Standby art director | What happens to the set once shooting starts. |
| Line producer | Budget, overtime and what the build can afford. |
Routes in
How do I become a art director?
A department that takes people from architecture, theatre and the trades as readily as from film.
Up from draughting
Draughtsperson and assistant art director is the standard route.
Architecture and design
Architectural and interior design training transfers almost directly.
Theatre
Stage design and scenic construction are a well-worn crossover.
Construction trades
Carpenters and scenics who can draw move up into the drawing office.
Art department trainee
Entry grade on drama, often via a runner in the art department.
A degree helps here more than in most departments — architecture, interior design or theatre design — and it is still explicitly not essential. Drawing ability and build knowledge are what get you hired.
A portfolio of drawings and sets that were built is the qualification.
Nearby
The grades either side of this one.
The art department splits between the drawing office and the floor. Read both.
Art and costume department guide
The making skills this department hires on, and the free archives research is actually done in.
Never been on a set? Start here. Offered a first day? Read this first. Want to know where this grade leads? Where people have gone names people who trained here and the productions they went to.
